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on Development |
| By: | Ceballos, Francisco; Kramer, Berber |
| Abstract: | Smallholder farmers in developing countries generally lack access to affordable agricultural insurance, in part because of high loss verification costs and asymmetric information in indemnity insurance and basis risk in index-based insurance. Advances in remote sensing and other digital technologies can help overcome these challenges by allowing for low-cost, remote loss verification, and settling claims based on observed visible damage in a farmer’s fields. By effectively proxying for indemnity insurance, however, such a product may be subject to moral hazard and adverse selection. We test these hypotheses leveraging the rollout of picture-based crop insurance among smallholder farmers in northwestern India. We find no evidence of moral hazard or adverse selection, and that the use of technologies increases willingness to pay. We conclude that digital technologies are a valuable tool to provide low cost, sustainable crop insurance remotely, at lower levels of basis risk than index products. |
| Keywords: | INDIA; SOUTH ASIA; ASIA; risk; insurance; crop insurance; mobile equipment; technology; crops; farmers; smallholders; agricultural insurance; field experimentation; moral hazard; adverse selection; asymmetric information; Picture-Based Crop Insurance |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:2088&r= |
| By: | Jeffrey D. Michler; Anna Josephson; Talip Kilic; Siobhan Murray |
| Abstract: | When publishing socioeconomic survey data, survey programs implement a variety of statistical methods designed to preserve privacy but which come at the cost of distorting the data. We explore the extent to which spatial anonymization methods to preserve privacy in the large-scale surveys supported by the World Bank Living Standards Measurement Study - Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) introduce measurement error in econometric estimates when that survey data is integrated with remote sensing weather data. Guided by a pre-analysis plan, we produce 90 linked weather-household datasets that vary by the spatial anonymization method and the remote sensing weather product. By varying the data along with the econometric model we quantify the magnitude and significance of measurement error coming from the loss of accuracy that results from protect privacy measures. We find that spatial anonymization techniques currently in general use have, on average, limited to no impact on estimates of the relationship between weather and agricultural productivity. However, the degree to which spatial anonymization introduces mismeasurement is a function of which remote sensing weather product is used in the analysis. We conclude that care must be taken in choosing a remote sensing weather product when looking to integrate it with publicly available survey data. |
| Date: | 2022–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2202.05220&r= |
| By: | Dang, Hai-Anh (World Bank); Carletto, Calogero (World Bank) |
| Abstract: | Smallholder farming dominates agriculture in poorer countries. Yet, traditional recall-based surveys on smallholder farming in these countries face challenges with seasonal variations, high survey costs, poor record-keeping, and technical capacity constraints resulting in significant recall bias. We offer the first study that employs a less-costly, imputation-based alternative using mixed modes of data collection to obtain estimates on smallholder farm labor. Using data from Tanzania, we find that parsimonious imputation models based on small samples of a benchmark weekly inperson survey can offer reasonably accurate estimates. Furthermore, we also show how less accurate, but also less resource-intensive, imputation-based measures using a weekly phone survey may provide a viable alternative for the more costly weekly in-person survey. If replicated in other contexts, including for other types of variables that suffer from similar recall bias, these results could open up a new and cost-effective way to collect more accurate data at scale. |
| Keywords: | farm labor, agricultural productivity, multiple imputation, missing data, survey data, Tanzania |
| JEL: | C8 J2 O12 Q12 |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14997&r= |
| By: | Goel, Deepti (Azim Premji University); Abraham, Rosa (Azim Premji University); Lahoti, Rahul (ETH Zurich) |
| Abstract: | We describe the design and implemention of a paradata based method to reduce interviewer induced measurement error in a household survey in India. Our method identifies enumerators exhibiting deviant field practices, and provides them feedback to correct potentially faulty behavior. A novel feature is the emphasis on dynamic benchmarking within a group of enumerators facing similar field conditions. This helps to correctly pin down steady state levels of multiple data generating processes that exist within our survey. We also present evidence that our method succeeded in changing actual enumerator behavior in the field. Furthermore, we provide a complete prototype of how to operationalize paradata use in a resource constrained environment. At each step, we highlight the trade-offs involved, share insights from our own shortcomings, and provide recommendations to help make more informed choices. We hope our work will encourage the use of paradata to improve survey quality, especially in low- and middle-income countries where their use is still rare. |
| Keywords: | paradata, survey data, interviewer effects, India |
| JEL: | C83 |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15041&r= |
| By: | Hisahiro Naito; Shinnosuke Yamamoto |
| Abstract: | In several developing countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, accessibility to digital financial services is increasing because of the development of mobile money services. People previously excluded from the financial system have started to have access to financial services such as receiving and sending remittances, saving, and borrowing. This study examines the effect of network accessibility on the use of mobile money in six developing countries (Bangladesh, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Tanzania, and Uganda) using GPS information on each household and mobile phone network coverage maps. We find that among these six countries, network accessibility is associated with the use of mobile money in a robust way only in Pakistan and Tanzania. In those two countries, when a household location becomes 10 km closer to the center of the area with multiple mobile networks, the probability of using mobile money increases by 10 percent. In the other countries, we did not find a robust relationship between the use of mobile money and network accessibility. This suggests that increasing network accessibility may not be an efficient method for increasing mobile money adoption in certain countries. The fact that mobile money use rates differ between Tanzania and Pakistan also suggests that the effect of mobile networks is unrelated to the overall level of mobile money adoption. |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tsu:tewpjp:2022-001&r= |
| By: | Takeshima, Hiroyuki; Diao, Xinshen |
| Abstract: | Gender differences in the engagement of work activities across sectors are important elements of gender inequality in rural livelihoods and welfare in developing countries. The role of production technologies, including agricultural mechanization, in addressing gender inequality, is increasingly explored. Knowledge gaps remain, however, including, how agricultural mechanization differentially affect labor engagements across sectors. This study aims to partly fill these knowledge gaps through micro-evidence from 8 countries (Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, India, Nepal, Tajikistan and Vietnam), using several nationally representative panel data and supplementary data, and applying Correlated-Random-Effects Double-Hurdle models with Instrumental-Variables. We find that the use of tractors and/or combine harvesters by the household induces greater shift from farm activities to non-farm activities by female members than by male members. While statistical significance varies, these patterns generally hold consistently across all 8 countries studied. These patterns also seem to hold across different farm sizes. While these are short-term relations, agricultural mechanization proxied by tractor and/or combine harvesters is one of the important contributors to gendered rural livelihood. Future studies should more closely investigate underlying mechanisms and implications of these patterns. |
| Keywords: | ETHIOPIA; GHANA; NIGERIA; WEST AFRICA; TANZANIA; EAST AFRICA; AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA; AFRICA; INDIA; NEPAL; SOUTH ASIA; TAJIKISTAN; VIET NAM; VIETNAM; SOUTH EAST ASIA; ASIA; agricultural mechanization; tractors; combine harvesters; gender; labour; models; data; correlated-random-effects double hurdle model; panel data |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:2066&r= |
| By: | Masset, Edoardo |
| Abstract: | A civil conflict broke out in northern Mali in 2012, which is continuing to the present day. Very little is known about its impact on civilians. In this paper we show how to use birth history data to build long time series of mortality rates, and we use novel synthetic control methods to estimate the impact of the Malian civil conflict on child mortality. We find that conflict produced a significant increase in under-5 mortality, and that the impact was negligible on infant mortality but large on child mortality. We analyse trends of key mortality determinants, and conclude that a reduction in vaccination rates and in access to health care in childhood were the most likely mediators of impact. Northern Mali is today one of the poorest and most neglected areas of the world where humanitarian assistance is urgently needed. |
| Keywords: | MALI; WEST AFRICA; AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA; AFRICA; children; mortality; conflicts; civil conflict; control methods; health |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:2082&r= |
| By: | Kabinet Kaba (CERDI - Centre d'Études et de Recherches sur le Développement International - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UCA - Université Clermont Auvergne); Mahamat Moustapha (Université Paris Dauphine-PSL - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres, LEDa - Laboratoire d'Economie de Dauphine - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - Université Paris Dauphine-PSL - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres) |
| Abstract: | Sub-Saharan African firms face enormous obstacles to their development. The main constraints to business performance identified are poor access to finance and a weak domestic market. In this paper, we examine how international remittances affect firms' performance. Specifically, we investigate the role of remittances on capital accumulation, sales, and employment in 34,010 firms operating in 42 Sub-Saharan African countries between 2006 and 2020. Using a fixed-effect instrumental variable approach to control for the endogeneity of remittances, we find that international remittances positively affect the share of capital held by nationals in manufacturing firms. Moreover, international remittances positively affect sales in non-manufacturing firms, while a negative effect on the sales of manufacturing firms is observed. Regarding the effect of remittances on employment, we find a positive impact on both manufacturing and non-manufacturing firms. Heterogeneity tests suggest that the effect of remittances on firms' performance is larger in less financially developed and non-resource-rich countries. As for the negative impact of remittances on sales in manufacturing firms, the results show that it is entirely due to small firms. Finally, using remittances per capita instead of remittances relative to GDP, similar result are found. |
| Keywords: | Remittances,Firm Performance,Entrepreneurship,Saving and Capital Investment,Firm Employment,Africa |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03515100&r= |
| By: | Jules Gazeaud (NOVA - Universidade Nova de Lisboa = NOVA University Lisbon); Eric Mvukiyehe; Olivier Sterck |
| Abstract: | Will the fast expansion of cash-based programming in poor countries increase international migration? Theoretically, cash transfers may deter migration by increasing its opportunity cost, or favor migration by relaxing liquidity, credit, and risk constraints. This paper evaluates the impact of a cash-for-work program on migration. Randomly selected households in Comoros were offered up to US$320 in cash in exchange for their participation in public works projects. We find that the program increased international migration by 38 percent, from 7.8% to 10.8%. |
| Keywords: | Migration,Cash Transfers,Financial Constraints,Risk-aversion,Comoros,Mayotte,Anjouan |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03512282&r= |
| By: | Leight, Jessica; Gilligan, Daniel O.; Mulford, Michael; Taffesse, Alemayehu Seyoum; Tambet, Heleene |
| Abstract: | A growing literature in economics has analyzed the effects of psychological interventions designed to boost individual aspirations as a strategy to increase investments with long-term returns and thus reduce poverty. This paper reports on a randomized controlled trial evaluating a short video-based intervention designed to increase aspirations of adults in poor rural Ethiopian households, all of whom are beneficiaries of the Productive Safety Net Program, the main government safety net program in Ethiopia. Evidence from a sample of 5258 adults from 3220 households is consistent with the hypothesis that there is no evidence that the aspirations treatment had any significant effects on self-reported aspirations for the household, educational investment in children, or savings nine months post-treatment, suggesting that the effect of light-touch aspirations treatments for extremely poor adults may be limited in this context. |
| Keywords: | ETHIOPIA; EAST AFRICA; AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA; AFRICA; rural areas; education; investment; poverty reduction; social safety nets; aspirations; educational investments |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:2070&r= |
| By: | Abate, Gashaw Tadesse; de Brauw, Alan; Minot, Nicholas; Vos, Rob; Warner, James M.; Wassie, Solomon B.; Yang, Shijie |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a quantitative impact assessment of the community-based integrated natural resources management project (CBINReMP) in the Lake Tana region in Ethiopia during 2011-2019. By promoting greater community participation, the CBINReMP provided support to watershed communities for the restoration of degraded soils and water sources, rehabilitation of forests, as well as in obtaining access to secure land titles and practices for climate change adaptation. The project further provided support towards diversification of incomes in off-farm activities and incentives for women’s empowerment and youth employment. This way the project aimed to support rural livelihoods through improvements in household incomes, dietary diversity, agricultural productivity, and resilience to climatic shocks, among other livelihood objectives. To assess the project’s impacts, the study had to deal with numerous methodological complications owing to as the project’s nature and design. The lack of a proper baseline survey, incomplete information about targeted watershed communities and often lack of clear distinction lines between the project’s interventions and support provided to communities through other mechanisms made it hard to identify the true impact of the CBINReMP. Four additional challenges had to be faced: possible selection biases because of non-random placement (targeting) of the project; self-selection of beneficiaries into receiving the project; possible spatial spill-over effects of project benefits to non-treatment communities, and the project’s phased rollout. A propensity-score matching procedure was adopted to assess the CBINReMP’s impacts by comparing treatment (beneficiary) and control groups outcomes related to the livelihood indicators listed above. This paper discusses how the mentioned complications were addressed to provide a sound assessments of the project’s true impacts. While certain limitations remain, the key finding that can be drawn with confidence is that the CBINReMP had only very limited, quantitatively verifiable impact on rural livelihoods. It seems to have contributed to higher household incomes and some greater dietary diversity, but only where the project managed greater community participation. However, even for those beneficiaries, livelihood conditions had not become significantly more productive, diversified, resilient, or sustainable than those of the comparison group. The paper ends with recommendations on how to avoid methodological obstacles through better design of the M&E framework for multi-intervention, community-based projects. |
| Keywords: | ETHIOPIA; EAST AFRICA; AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA; AFRICA; evaluation; impact assessment; development projects; natural resources management; monitoring and evaluation; watershed management; CBINReMP; Lake Tana Watersheds (LTWs) |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:2069&r= |
| By: | Ragasa, Catherine; Mzungu, Diston; Kalagho, Kenan; Kazembe, Cynthia |
| Abstract: | Low-cost and sustainable agricultural management practices are being promoted in many countries but continue to face low adoption among farmers. We tracked the awareness and adoption among farmers of a number of practices―soil cover, minimum tillage, crop rotation, intercropping, crop diversification, crop residue incorporation, pit planting, water harvesting, and organic fertilizer―in two rounds of a nationally representative rural household survey in Malawi. Survey data and focus group discussions are used to understand the factors explaining the variations in farmers’ awareness and adoption of these practices. Results show a strong positive effect of extension services receipt on farmers’ awareness of these practices but no effect on farmers’ adoption of most of the practices being promoted, except for crop residue incorporation and organic fertilizer use. Receipt of input subsidy does not influence the adoption of these practices. Both survey data and focus group discussions highlight the need for intensive and iterative engagement between service providers and farmers to fully communicate, learn, and adapt to these management practices. |
| Keywords: | MALAWI; SOUTHERN AFRICA; AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA; AFRICA; technology; agricultural extension; sustainable land management; rural areas; surveys; households; models; farmers; crop rotation; diversification; minimum tillage; intercropping; water harvesting; organic fertilizers; extension services; agricultural management practices; empirical model; technology adoption; soil coverage; crop residue incorporation; pit planting |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:2068&r= |
| By: | Abay, Kibrom A.; Abay, Mehari Hiluf; Berhane, Guush; Chamberlin, Jordan |
| Abstract: | Improving household resilience is becoming one of the key focus and target of social protection programs in Africa. However, there is surprisingly little direct evidence of the impacts of social protection programs on household resilience measures. We use five rounds of panel data to examine rural households’ resilience outcomes associated with participation in Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Nets Program (PSNP). Following Cissé and Barrett (2018), we employ a probabilistic moment-based approach for measuring resilience and evaluate the role of PSNP transfers and duration of participation on households’ resilience. We document four important findings. First, although PSNP transfers are positively associated with resilience, PSNP transfers below the median are less likely to generate meaningful improvements in resilience. Second, continuous participation in the PSNP participation is associated with higher resilience. Third, combining safety nets with income generating or asset building initiatives may be particularly efficacious at building poor households’ resilience. Fourth, our evaluation of both short-term welfare outcomes and longer-term resilience suggests that these outcomes are likely to be driven by different factors, suggesting that optimizing intervention designs for improving short term welfare impacts may not necessarily improve households’ resilience, and vice versa. Together, our findings imply that effectively boosting household resilience may require significant transfers over multiple years. National safety nets programs that transfer small amounts to beneficiaries over limited time horizons may not be very effective. |
| Keywords: | ETHIOPIA; EAST AFRICA; AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA; AFRICA; social protection; resilience; food security; social safety nets; households; welfare; productive safety net program |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:2086&r= |
| By: | Adeabah, David; Asongu, Simplice |
| Abstract: | Over the past decade, a growing number of studies have examined the role of agricultural export in economic growth in Africa. The literature, however, provides conflicting results about the agricultural export-led growth hypothesis. In this study, we aim to examine the impact of agricultural export on economic growth by performing a meta-analysis. Our meta-analysis finds significant presence of negative publication bias in the literature. Using mixed-effect multilevel meta-regression, we find that after correction for publication bias, the average agricultural export elasticity to economic growth is 0.763 for the poor in Africa. Interestingly, agricultural export is growth for the rich in Africa, although the elasticity of GDP is 0.043. These results are consistent with the agricultural export-led growth hypothesis. The implication is that export promotion should be targeted at agricultural output in low-income and lower middle-income countries whereas upper middle-income countries in Africa may focus on non-agricultural export. |
| Keywords: | Africa; export-led growth; agricultural export; meta-analysis |
| JEL: | C10 C40 I30 N50 O55 |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:111751&r= |
| By: | Lambrecht, Isabel; Mahrt, Kristi; Cho, Ame |
| Abstract: | Women’s and youth’s roles in agriculture vary across contexts and over time. Limited quantitative information is available on this topic from Southeast Asia in general, and particularly from Myanmar. We use nationally representative data to document women’s and youth’s involvement in agriculture in rural Myanmar. First, we show that women and youth contribute substantially to agriculture. Women in farm households perform 39 percent of household farm labour days, and 43 percent of agricultural wage workers are women. Twenty-seven percent of adults performing household agricultural work are youth and 22 percent of agricultural wage workers are youth. Yet, women’s farm wages are 29 percent lower than men’s farm wages. Youth’s farm wages are 17 percent lower than farm wages of non-youth for men, but we don’t find similar wage differences for women. Second, we find a significant gender gap in land rights, but the share of women who have land rights is still sizable. Nineteen percent of adult men are documented landowners compared to seven percent of adult women. Few youth have land rights, but the likelihood increases with age. Third, we explore cropping patterns. No crops are grown exclusively by men or women, but rice is more often and vegetables are less often cultivated by households where men are the sole agricultural decision makers. Finally, we focus on access to credit. Women receive loans less often than men (21 percent vs. 26 percent) and youth rarely receive loans (4 percent). Women’s loans are more often aimed at alleviating basic needs, such as food and health expenditures. Men’s loans are more often aimed at investment in productive activities, especially farming. The evidence suggests that including men, women and youth equally in agricultural projects and policy making is critical to advance equity and achieve development goals. |
| Keywords: | MYANMAR; BURMA; SOUTHEAST ASIA; ASIA; gender; youth; agriculture; women; role of women; equity |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:2071&r= |
| By: | Alderman, Harold; Aurino, Elisabetta; Baffour, Priscilla Twumasi; Gelli, Aulo; Turkson, Festus; Wong, Brad |
| Abstract: | Social protection programs such as cash or food transfers support current poverty and inequality reduction goals, while at the same time enhance future productivity through human capital investments. Yet, the quantification of their overall productivity and equity benefits is challenging. We address this question utilizing a new methodology that quantifies productivity gains from learning as well as an approach for assessing social protection benefits. We do so by combining data on distributional benefits stemming from current poverty reduction in conjunction with future human capital gains in the context of a large-scale national school feeding program in Ghana. We develop a straightforward approach to map effect sizes from randomized controlled studies into broader economic analyses. In addition, we include the often recognized, but seldom quantified, distributional impacts of multi-sectoral investments. Our methodology is relevant to a broad range of social protection programs that have multidimensional benefits spanning both human capital improvements and equity gains. |
| Keywords: | GHANA; WEST AFRICA; AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA; AFRICA; school feeding; education; redistribution; fiscal policies; social protection; cash transfers; nutrition; child nutrition; school meals; program evaluation; Ghana School Feeding Program (GSFP) |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:2060&r= |
| By: | Diding Sakri; Andy Sumner; Arief Anshory Yusuf |
| Abstract: | Various scholars have estimated levels of intergenerational mobility in OECD countries. Fewer estimates are available for developing countries, where mobility arguably matters more due to starker differences in living standards. This paper presents new estimates of mobility for a developing country, namely Indonesia. The estimates are based on data from five waves of the Indonesian Family Life Survey, a longitudinal analysis of socio-economic status which began in 1993. We constructed a pooling sample consisting of 9,445 matching pairs of children and their parents. |
| Keywords: | Intergenerational Mobility, Longitudinal data analysis, Indonesia, Household survey |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2022-12&r= |
| By: | Takeshima, Hiroyuki |
| Abstract: | Agricultural research and development (R&D) is one component of public investments in the agricultural sector toward food system transformation. Enhancing the effectiveness of agricultural R&D remains critical, given increasingly scarce public resources. Exploring spatial spillover potentials has been one way to enhance the effectiveness of agricultural R&D. Geographical locations of National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) research activities are recognized as an important factor affecting such spatial spillover potentials. However, evidence is generally limited in Africa south of Sahara (SSA) as to the spillover potentials of NARS-developed technologies. This paper partly aims to fill this knowledge gap by obtaining insights for maize, one of the most commonly grown crops in SSA, using nationally representative farm household data for Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, and Uganda, and spatial agroclimatic data. Building on recent literature, this study proxies spillover potentials by “agroclimatic similarity†(AS) indicators between locations where agricultural R&D for maize is conducted by NARS (research locations) and where each farm household is located (farm locations). Results of the analyses suggest that an indicator of the total factor productivity of maize growing farm households, the land productivity of maize, and the use of improved maize varieties are generally higher in farm locations that share similar agroclimatic conditions with maize research locations of NARS. These patterns hold for all four countries studied, even after controlling for the physical proximity to maize research stations and other farm household characteristics. The findings contribute to better understanding of how geographic locations of public investments affect their overall effectiveness as well as returns in maize production and the agricultural sector in general. |
| Keywords: | ETHIOPIA; GHANA; NIGERIA; UGANDA; WEST AFRICA; EAST AFRICA; AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA; AFRICA; maize; public sector; research; agricultural research; agricultural productivity; agroclimatology; agricultural research and development; agroclimatic similarity |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:2064&r= |